In comparison to teams in the Championship, Leeds’ attacking options currently appear to be very good, which will delight Daniel Farke.
It does imply that some young people will find it difficult to get many chances to shine throughout the promotion race.
Mateo Joseph is missing.
Joseph, who signed from Espanyol in January 2022 while Marcelo Bielsa was the club’s manager, was already showing to be too excellent for merely under-21 football. He made his Premier League debut last season after making six appearances across all competitions in 22/23.
After a productive preseason, England youth international Joseph looked set to play for the first team, but an injured ankle forced him to miss the opening few games of the year.
He has yet to play for the senior team this season or even the under-21s, but Farke has used him twice on the bench, against Watford and Sheffield Wednesday at home.
After a good preseason was derailed by injury, Farke was questioned about how the striker is doing as he prepares to heal and make an impression at Thorp Arch (via the YEP):
Yes, without a doubt. As a result, I was quite delighted and pleased with him during the preseason. He played well in all of the friendlies, including the one against Barnsley when it was played in secret.
“Unfortunately, he sustained this long-term injury, and as a young player just breaking into the first team, it’s never easy if you lose such a significant amount of time and are sidelined for more than two months before needing additional time to get back in shape.
“Obviously, it’s not that simple for him either because you can’t just take away game time to get him back to this level of self-assurance and rhythm. However, he exhibits impressive skill on the practice field, and we are considering giving him a few minutes whenever it is possible in the under-21s to give him a sense of both positioning and a typical game.
“But, once he is able to impress, there is also a chance that he will be chosen for the traveling squad, as he was for the previous game, where we obviously also had some injury issues with Willy Gnonto and Patrick wasn’t fully well.
“For that, we are grateful Mateo was available, and I’m confident he will play a pretty important role in this club’s mid- and long-term future. I’m happy with him.”
Fortunately for Joseph and not other players, Joseph appears to be a legitimate talent who matches what Farke wants from him as a forward.
He might need to develop more strength to become a striker in the senior game in England, but given his speed and skill with the ball in his feet, he can play the left wing for us just fine.
It is unclear if he will get that chance, but you might assume that he will be knocking on doors shortly in search of a chance.
